Busan Christmas Tree Festival

Happy Busan Christmas, Busan!

Saturday Jenee and I loaded up on the KTX (Korea Express Train) and headed south to Busan. This is South Korea's largest city after Seoul and is a port city. It's famous for it's big beaches and is somewhere we've wanted to travel to for a while. 

The KTX is really convenient in that you can travel from Seoul to Busan in a little less than 3 hours. There is also trains leaving frequently throughout the day. Because we are foreigners, we had the option of getting a one-day pass (which basically cost the same as a one-way trip) so we could leave and return at whatever time we wanted. 

We ran into a slight problem on Friday night when we realized that we had to have a printed e-ticket in order to receive our pass.......and we have no printer. This basically means we had to run all around the Yatap area late in the evening searching for a PC Bang (place where you can use computers) that allowed users to print things. We met some really nice people during this whole adventure that gave us directions and went the extra mile to help us out. Thank you, kind citizens of South Korea!  

The only other inconvenience is that the station is all the way up in Seoul, about an hour and a half by public transportation from where we live. So we left here (Bundang) as early as we could and arrived at the KTX station in time to catch the 7AM train to Busan. 

Our tickets! Success!

It was so nice! Compared to both airplane and bus, I'll take this train ride any day! The seats are comfortable and there is even foot rests (hallelujah!) so the trip passed really quickly. 

Our main reason for making this particular trip to Busan was to see their annual Christmas Tree Festival but since we arrived in the morning and didn't need to head to the festival until after dark, we hit up some local tourist spots first. 

First stop: Haeundae Beach! 

This is probably the most famous beach in South Korea and even though it's winter there were still lots of people out and about enjoying the view. 

We didn't spend a lot of time there because neither of us felt like getting into the sand but it was a nice sight to see none-the-less. 

Next stop: Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

I actually had no idea about this place but one of our co-workers suggested that we go and I'm really glad we did.

The temple is a bit out of the way but you can get there by bus or taxi. We opted for the taxi and arrived easily. The temple is situated along the coast so it's really scenic and beautiful. I'm not big into temples (not being Buddhist) but I appreciate their architecture and historic significance.

The trail leading to and from the Temple was crowded with street vendors selling souvenirs and food. I used up a good amount of my coin collection on the later but really enjoyed getting to try all the treats.

We took a taxi back to Haeundae after searching the map for a place to go next. Busan has a lot of fun sounding spots to visit but since we were only there for one day we couldn't go very far from where the Christmas Tree Festival would be held. 

Third Stop: Busan Tower. 

This place is located right next to the festival so it seemed like a good destination. We found it with little hassle (went the wrong way after exiting the subway--of course--but eventually found a map and figured it out). 

The tower is located in a park (Yongdusan Park, to be specific) on top of a mountain but a few sets of escalators take you up fairly quickly. Thank you, escalators! 

We meet again!

In the park is another famous statue of Lee Soon Shin. We've visited the one in Seoul twice (see here and here) and a pavilion. We decided to go up in the tower to the observatory and got to see some amazing views of the city. 

When we were finished we still had some time left before the festival so after grabbing some food we decided to check out one of South Korea's largest markets.

Fourth Stop: Gukje Market.

Kim Soo Hyun...kya kya! (I just wanted to post this...)

When we were up in the tower, one of the nice English guides pointed this place out to us and said that you can find anything in this market and for great prices, too. 

Since it was close by we wandered the extremely crowed streets and did a lot of "window" shopping (I did buy a shirt...). It was really exciting to experience such a thing but also a little frustrating because people are so pushy sometimes! Don't go to this market if you are afraid of crowded places! 

When it started getting dark we headed to the entrance for the Christmas Tree Festival. Speakers throughout the street were playing Christmas music and after the sun set the lights all turned on and it was really an awesome sight.

There were different decorations, mostly Christmas trees, but also various things were lit up beautifully. 

These were all along the street (photos from Jenee)

One particular part of the street had a bubble blower attached to the top of one of the buildings and the assent of bubbles made it look like it was snowing. 

Snow bubbles!!

In the center there was a huge Christmas tree flooded with lights (and people).

Then two more streets branched off with even more lights and decorations. 

It was a bit cold but we were bundled up so it wasn't uncomfortable. It was also really crowded but not as bad as some of the events we've been to in Seoul so that was a relief. 

The center tree...so pretty!

Overall, the experience was really pleasant. We were able to leisurely enjoy the sights before heading back to the station to catch a KTX train back to Seoul.

Busan Station

I'm actually really surprised and excited that we were able to do this! We went to Busan, all by ourselves! Also, even though we did a lot of things, it never felt overwhelming or exhausting. I hope we are able to head down there again (probably in warmer weather) and experience some more of other areas in South Korea.